Afloat
by Ninni51
Summary: Sink or swim. For heroes such as the Shepherds, there is no middle ground in the river of fate. Of course, humans are unpredictable, and there are still those who try to fool themselves into believing otherwise. By trying to build a sturdy boat for themselves. Or by ducking their head underwater, hoping that the waterfall shall never come. Double SI/OC. TW for suicide and addiction
1. Chapter 1

**Afloat – Chapter 1**

**My everything hurts!**

"_Mama, ooooh  
I don't wanna die  
Sometimes I wish I'd never been born at all"_

_-Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)_

_If an author reuses an icebreaker from a past fic that he thought sounded really cool, is it self-plagiarism?_

That is not the question I'm going to ask myself, you, or the void. The question we're going to be asking today, my dear readers, is:

_If a depressed teenager fails to kill himself and gets transported to a fictional world in a forest, when he falls does he make a sound?_

At first I was inclined to believe that you'd be crazy to ask me this question, and then, just to spite you, I'd tell you that something that cannot happen by default can't make a sound.

*sigh* But apparently no, he does indeed make a sound, a sound loud enough to wake up the dead. Let me tell you my story. It's pretty cool. Actually, most of it sucks. But don't take my word for it, read it for yourself.

* * *

I stared at the thousands of white dots on a black board that made up the night sky. Usually, I wasn't that much of a "Staring at the sky and wondering about life" kind of person, but for tonight I was willing to make an exception. The sky was beautiful tonight, it truly was, and for once in my life I had really wanted to explore it, if only with my eyes. Some said that when you died, you became a star as well. I wonder if that would hold true for me as well. Maybe I'd be that one shitty star that didn't even make it to being a brilliant one that shone in the sky just for whatever romantic idiot to "gift" it to a girl because he has no money.

I began listening to the chirps of crickets as well, secluded in this small hole in the world, as they did whatever their chirping meant. No real idea. I would hate to learn that it's a sign that crickets are having sex or something equally gross, so they're just chirping to me.

Dying is a way slower process than you would figure... it's taking like, the time for me to make a full monologue.

What else is around me… Trees. And being trees, I listened to them gently swaying in the wind. I stared as they had their small battle against the elements, only occasionally getting respite in a never ending cycle.

Sounds familiar.

I should've brought my phone, to be honest. The idea that I would need something to entertain myself with while waiting for my (slowly) incoming demise would've been so laughable twenty minutes ago.

You know, I never did finish the report I needed to hand in to make up for the 4/10 I got on my latin test. Guess I'm never going to do that now. Ms. Pala will just have to, I certainly am not returning from the grave to hand it in.

What else…

I stared bemused as a moth came to land on my nose. It began climbing on my glasses, just walking around and giving me an easy view of it. Didn't look anything special, brownish with no distinguishable pattern at least from the underside of its wings. And then, just as it came, it flew away.

Huh. Downer.

I like to think that without the current context, I would've enjoyed just coming to lie down here doing nothing. Yet here I am. Worst comes to worst, I'll be sent to hell and I'll have deserved it. I think in the Divine Comedy the contrapasso speaks about turning into a tree or something.

I began hearing footsteps. Someone's come to save me from myself, huh? Or maybe it's just someone who will pass by and not notice me. That would be so ironic.

…

At some point, I must've conked out, because I then managed to wake up with a start, trying to sit up, only for pain shoot through my whole body and a hand to force my head down. Looking up in a panic, I stared (as much as I could, with my vision being all blurry and shit) as a hand lays itself on the top of my head, and the person who it belongs to. A black head of hair is the first thing I notice, and further squinting on my part reveals a serious and concerned face staring at me. I try to look down at my chest, but I can't. Trying to talk also reveals itself fruitless, as I realize that there is something in my mouth. For the second time this day, fear starts to creep in. _What are they doing to me?!_

"Easy there. Don't move. Lissa's still working on you. We're almost done, stay strong." The man holds my head down and turns back to staring at my chest as someone (I can feel their hands) is digging through my innards. _Ohgodohgodohgod__**ohgod**_-

"Woah!" The guy says as his face comes back into my field of vision. "Stay calm. Everything will be fine. Deep breaths, friend. You're going to live, just hold on." I can't answer, though I try to calm down my breathing (was I hyperventilating?) to glare at him. However, before he can answer, I hear the voice of a young girl speaking.

"3… 2… out!" She suddenly says as I was about to brace myself for whatever was to come. Suddenly pain lances through my chest, making my ears ring.

I'm feeling really tired of everything, to be honest. Tired of living first thing first. Tired of wearing a mask. Tired of pretending to be happy for my family. Just… tired.

And hence, through the pain and the tears that stung my eyes, I slept once again.

To be honest, I would've liked more for my last memories to be the chirping of the crickets,, the stars and the trees. Oh, and the moth. But begggars can't be choosers.

"_Aaah!" I gasped out as I woke up. I don't want to die, I don't want to die-_

"_Whoa!" My brother said, from the side of my bed. "Remind me to never wake you up again if you're gonna kick me like that!" I looked down at my chest. No knife. No blood. Nothing. I mean, there were copious amounts of sweat, but what could you expect from someone who decided to cover himself up even during summer because it's cozy?_

"_Sorry." I said, not quite able to stop shaking. "It was a really bad dream. Like, lava flowing upwards kind of bad." We shared a shudder at that. For some reason, we were both really traumatized from side-scrolling levels that had something chasing you, be it lava, fuzzies (the Super Mario kind) or anything really. Don't get me started on SA-X, I didn't pick up the gameboy for weeks after the first encounter._

_I began stretching my arms and legs, still lying down while doing questionable noises, the most important part of getting up in the morning._

"_What time is it?" I asked groggily, pressing my face into the pillow._

"_9:30." He replied. Damn._

"_Why'd you wake me up so early? We've got nowhere to be…" I mumbled into the cushion._

"_Because you don't have to sleep." He said, pushing my face so that I was now receiving air. I lazily raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?" _

"_You just can't." He replied, tossing himself onto me and UGH-_

"_Get off, you're heavy!" I wheezed._

"_No." He said, pulling himself into the bed with me and starting to push me with his legs._

"_What the hell!" I said, falling onto the space in between the beds. So he wanted to play this way, eh?_

"_I can sleep here too." I said, grasping my pillow and putting my arms under it._

"_No!" He shouted, grabbing me and forcing me to get up. However, I wasn't a master of sleeping for nothing. If he wanted me to sleep upright, I could do it._

"_Wake up." He poked me in the cheek._

"_Don't wanna." I said, leaning into him to use him as a headrest._

"_You can't sleep! You'll die Nick!" He began shaking me._

"_Cool." I said._

"_Wake up!" He began shaking me stronger. "You can't give up on me now!" He said, but I was far too weak to even open my eyes._

"_WAKE UP!"_

I woke up to the sound of snoring, crackling fire and the heat emanated by it. Blearily opening my eyes, I stared upwards. My chest hurt, but it hurt a whole lot less. How was I even alive?

Not having enough willpower or strength to get up, but not feeling sleepy enough to go back to sleep, especially through the pain, I simply closed my eyes, listening to everything that was around me.

"What an eventful day, eh Chrom?" the voice of a young girl asked. It wasn't the voice of the person who was holding me down before though. "First Daraen, then the bandits, the forest and bear meat" she made a gagging sound at that, while a male voice (that sound vaguely familiar, though I couldn't place it) chuckled. "and now we stumble upon a half-dead guy, and we have to do a surgery on the fly!" She exclaimed. Hold on, these people hadn't even bothered calling an ambulance or anything? Were they nuts?

"Yes, _about that_, Milady." Another man spoke up, tone so stern that I could just imagine the frown on his face. "I recommend you exercise more caution next time. We knew nothing about him, it might've just been an attempt to lure you into a trap. Naga knows what people are willing to do to get their hands on money." The man concluded, earning a gasp from the girl. "You can't be serious! He would've died had I not healed him!" wait, what? _Healed_ me? What is this, an RPG?

"As much as I loathe to admit it, I must agree with Frederick." A third man commented. Wait, Frederick? "It was not wise to just rush towards him like that, Lissa. A ruse from the escaped bandits, or even them taking someone hostage to get revenge on us." Lissa? Bandits? What the hell?!

"But… coming from you..." The girl began speaking, sounding chastised and defiant. The first guy, the one who had chuckled, however cut her off. "And I must disagree with you there, Daraen. Had it not been for my sister's timely intervention, our guest might've not survived his wounds." Daraen?

The girl beamed. "Thanks, Chrom! At least you're with me on this…" Ohhh, I get it. I'm in a coma and I'm imagining stuff. That makes sense. Well, let's just wait it out then. Didn't feel like doing anything before, still don't feel like doing anything.

They continue to speak as I simply lay there, unmoving. The heat is nice even though I feel so cold inside, nobody is bothering me and I can't really muster up the will to get up. Nothing really important is said, inane gossip mostly just them eating and chattering and talking about what to do once they reach Ylisstol and how Lissa will stuff herself full of pastries to make up for what she's eating now. Boy, this is one hella boring dream, isn't it? Then again, I always was a boring person. That's why I just decided to-

Suddenly, I totally can't guess the reason, the conversation became a lot more interesting than listening to my own thoughts. Let's do that, hmm?

"Guys, I think I'll hit the… grass." The voice that by now I had learned to associate with Daraen (or Robin, if you prefer) said. "The day's been exhausting, and after that bear I'm feeling drowsy… do we have any bedrolls?" he yawned. After a few seconds he continued. "Meh. it's fine. Despite a certain blue-headed prince's opinion, the ground's a perfectly acceptable place to sleep." He chuckled wryly, prompting a giggle from Lissa.

"Guess I'll take first shift then." Chrom said. "After what happened today, I don't think I can find sleep as easily as you can, Daraen."

"Milord, are you alright?" Frederick asked, concerned.

"Thank you for your concern, Frederick, but I'm alright. Just a bit shaken, I suppose." Chrom reassured the Great Knight.

"…very well milord. I will be here if you require me for anything, and I'll be taking second and third watch."

"Are you sure you'll be alright sleeping for just a few hours?" Daraen inquired, his tone sounding concerned.

"Rest assured, _Daraen"_ Frederick was sounding like he was biting through a lemon to say his name "that I am perfectly capable of working with little to no rest. Anything for-" his speech was interrupted by Lissa, who started saying in a deadpan "Milord and milady, who need my presence else lest anything happens. What kind of protector would I be if I wasn't up to the task, especially when not within the walls of Ylisstol?" she sighed. "But yeah, he'll be fine, at least till we get home. And then he'll probably fall over and sleep for 24 hours."

And after a round of goodnights, there was no more noise, aside from the crackling of fire. Since it appeared I wasn't dying anytime soon, much to my chagrin, I took that as my cue to get up.

So yeah, I was getting up.

Definitely doing it.

Okay, now I'm actually doing it.

Yes.

Any moment now.

Even though I don't feel like it.

The ground is kinda comfortable once you get used to it, to be fair.

The grass is more cushiony than I thought.

No, I have to get up. Or not.

Nah.

Daughter of Nowi.

I wonder if this dream was gonna last long enough for me to see any of the kids?

Definitely not if I just stayed down.

So should I get up?

Perhaps.

Alright, doing it for real now.

Or not.

But yes, I'm doing it.

Nobody was entertained by this gag past the fourth line anyways.

Putting my hands on the ground, I began the herculean effort that was pushing myself up to witness any of my… saviors.

That's right, they saved my life. Maybe. Unless this is a coma.

Is a coma supposed to be this painful? I don't think a coma is supposed to be this painful.

On the other hand, the alternative is completely bollocks, bananas, nuts, and a whole fruit salad of other adjectives that are synonyms to the word crazy.

So, what are we going with, the sane but depressing coma theory or the screws loose isekai theory?

…

You may as well start calling me Alice cause… something something… rabbit hole. Screw you, I'm no good at making up sayings. Matrix reference anyways.

Anyways, I managed to at least get myself in a sitting position to stare at the four people that by all means shouldn't exist. And there they were, sleeping on the ground like nothing bothered them. I for a fact know that I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that there are insects ready to climb on me at every occasion.

Well, three of them were anyways. The other, a blue-haired man was concernedly staring back at me from his spot near the dying embers of the campfire that I was right next to, where they had also roasted an entire bear in.

"You alright there friend?" he asked.

"Friend?" I asked.

"Are you saying that we're enemies then?" He raised an eyebrow. At my wide eyed expression, he started laughing.

"Don't worry, I was joking. And you don't look like an assassin, do you?" he gave me a Smile™.

"My knife was definitely in the wrong place for an assassin." I muttered, fiddling with the Team Plasma necklace around my neck. I had this bad habit of never managing to keep my hands still. I had taken to rotating a keychain around my finger but... it wasn't here. I think. Hold on, is it? I dug inside my pockets, looking for the set of keys to little success. "Um... did I have anything on me besides..." I began gesturing to my chest.

"No, we only saw your necklace and the knife, along with your strange attire," Chrom replied before thinking for a moment, "Perhaps you were attacked by the same bandits that raided Southtown?" Ignoring the comment about my clothes because you certainly don't dress normally buddy, I started thinking about my situation. Might as well roll with it.

"I... sure, let's go with that." I said, unsure what to do with myself just sitting there aside from biting into my thumb's nail and hanging out with Philip D. Payne. (Or as friends would call him Phil D. Payne). Since we're already a foot and a half into the crazy, might as well go full not quite right in the head. So perhaps... "I'm not from around here. Any chance you've seen portals lately?" It was as valid as a theory as any. But still, why was I even trying to attempt casual conversation with a prince?!

"Portals?" Chrom seemed confused at my reply, "I haven't seen a portal and I doubt I would even recognize one." "Uhm..." How do I even go about describing them? Why is a dream being so demanding of me saying the correct thing? Is this fire emblem by Telltale Games?! "I... think it looks like an eye? I didn't see it well..." Or rather, I saw it for like two seconds in a cinematic. But still. "An... eye?" Chrom stared at me as he processed what I said.

I grasped for words before giving up. "Nevermind." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose before gesturing with my fingers in a round shape. "Just-it's a huge circle. But I guess you haven't seen any."

"If it is your quest then I will be sure to keep an eye out for them," Chrom answered.

"Not really. Actually, if you see one it'll probably be the one to keep an eye out for you, and not in the nice way." I frowned. "Be sure to run away from them, or at least be ready for a fight." I sighed. "But no, I just wanted to know where exactly I landed."

"We are a few miles away from Ylisstol in the Charcoal Forest," Chrom answered, "and I will be sure to take your advice."

I mulled this over. I really didn't have any idea about where this was, though I could hazard a guess. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I sighed. "But thanks anyways-" Should I reveal that I know who he is? I don't think I should. "Erm..."

"What is it... I don't think I have asked your name yet," Chrom extended his arm, "My name is Chrom."

"Yeah, the exact same problem." I sighed. "Name's Nick." I said, extending a hand before that happened to send me in a fit of pain in my chest. "Eurgh..." I said, retreating the hand from where I was extending it.

"Oh," Chrom jerked his arm back guiltily, "Perhaps I should not agitate your wounds. Lissa would have my head if I did."

"...was she the one digging through my chest earlier?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer. What I didnt have to fake, however, was the full body shudder that flowed through me.

"Yes she was," Chrom intensely stared at me, "Although she was curious how you were nearly fatally stabbed in the middle of nowhere yet had no other wounds." I could tell Chrom had some idea of what happened but was prodding me for information.

With no other places to sit on and not feeling comfortable enough to sit next to the guy on the log that he had positioned himself upon, I simply sat down on the ground, gritting my teeth from the pain. "Terrible life choices." I muttered.

"Not much of an answer," Chrom muttered, "Sooner or later Lissa is going to get it out of you."

"Sounds like a nosy person." I commented. "But there isn't much to the story, really. I stuck a knife in my gut. By the way, where is it?" I asked.

Chrom's expression turned serious, "With Frederick. He didn't want you to have access to a weapon you could use against us, and I will be sure to side with him if you try to regain it after what I've heard."

I snorted at that, pulling my knees closer to my chest before realizing it was a Bad Idea™. "Fine. Just wanted to know if it had broken or anything, if there was still. It was a gift. a poorly used one, but a gift nevertheless."

"Heirlooms are quite important," Chrom tapped the sword at his side, "I should know that as mine is of great importance beyond just my family."

"Not quite a heirloom, just a birthday gift, but yeah." I nodded.

"Where-" Chrom started, but interrupted himself. "Do... do you feel that?" He asked. "Hm?" I questioned. "I just... I feel like someone is watching us." He said, his tone low and hand on Falchion. I bit my lip. Should I warn him about the attack? I mean, I already told him that there was a portal in the sky watching us, but still…

_~I am the eye in the sky, looking at you…~_

Turning around, I checked on the others. "It's not them." I said, feigning obliviousness, though I legitimately did not feel what he was talking about.

The prince stayed silent, staring around himself for a while. Eventually, he got up. "Wait here." He said, getting up. A cute yawn stopped him from doing so. "What are you doing still up, Big Brother?" Turning around, I saw the princess of Ylisse rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Turning towards the Ylissean prince, I told him under my breath. "Could you keep mum about the whole..." I began gesturing towards my chest. He nodded, though he was still frowning.

"Hey! You woke up!" Lissa piped up from right behind me. I just realized that either Chrom was speaking really quietly, or both Daraen and Frederick (who were lying not too far from me) were really heavy sleepers. Which, I mean, could be for plot convenience. But still.

I don't even know what to tell her. What is this shit, nobody prepared me for an isekai. They just up and sent me in a random world. They've even chosen one of the worst worlds they could send someone in, this place sees a self-insert like every 2 days. Couldn't I have been sent to like animal crossing, and just become a millionaire by shaking trees and picking apples? This is so unfair.

Alright Nick, you can do it. If this is a game world, simply become a character, get in the role of Nick. Who is Nick?

_A depressed piece of crap who wasn't brave enough to-_

Yeah that's not what we're looking for. You've "role-played" (put on a mask) as a cheery kid for the better part of sixteen years, you can do it for two more. It'll be like playing D&D, alright? We got this. 3, 2, 1…

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Suddenly a voice called from near my ears, startling me out of my funk and making me jump.

Forward.

Into the fire pit.

MOTHERF-

Thankfully, I was able to stumble out of it with no real damage being done to anything besides my sneakers. I did feel something liquid trailing down my chest as I felt something open up marginally, and I began coughing from a cloud of ash made from stumbling inside said the fire pit.

"Woah!" Lissa was there soon after, staff in hand. "Are you okay?" I groaned in response, keeping myself up on unsteady legs. The blonde looked torn between concern and amusement, but as she saw me get up she began laughing,

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." I rolled my eyes, muttering to myself. "_Troia…_"

"What was that?" she asked, and

After she was done, wiping a tear from her eye, she walked up to me and jabbed her staff close to my chest. "Stay still." She said, and I managed to cringe only slightly when the tip of her staff began glowing as she smiled reassuringly. I took in the condition of my clothes to realize that my shirt had been completely cut open, the buttons rendered useless by the fact that there was a precise sword cut down the middle. I hadn't even realized.

"I'm gonna need new clothes." I commented as I watched in morbid curiosity as the gaping hole in my chest (I may be exaggerating a little here) fixed itself, leaving in its wake tissue, and why am I looking towards the sky?

I numbly felt a hand holding the back of my head up so it wasn't like I had just up and fallen over, but still. One moment I was looking at my chest and the next I was laying down on my back.

*rumble* I also felt incredibly hungry now.

"Easy there." I could hear the healer's voice call, and suddenly I was upright again. "You've just been healed, don't strain yourself. The wound is closed, but your body still needs time to recover." Managing to catch myself from falling once again after I was no longer being held upright, I turned towards the generous portion of bear that was next to the fire, separated from the ground using a fabric of some kind and encircled by a generous amount of salt that looked suspiciously similar to some kind of sacrificial rite.

Normally I'm a skittish person. Seeing that bear, that had probably cleaned in a less than average way, roasted on a branch that they found god-knows-where, I would've quite simply gagged and turned away.

But...

Nothing had seemed as delicious as that bear right about now. I think that they wouldn't mind if I take Frederick's share of the meal, right? If I remember correctly, Frederick hated bear meat. Oh well, more for me!

I grabbed a rib that still had some meat around it, sunk my teeth in and-

Remembered that this is not an anime.

"_Oddio che schifo._" I said as I forced myself to swallow the first bite of the meat and trying not to gag.

"Yeah, tastes like boots. I've never seen someone go from ecstatic to disgusted in such a short time!" Lissa giggled at my misery.

To put it simply, the meat was tough and chewy, and tasted relatively bitter. I moved to bring the rib away and put it back (etiquette about not eating food after the first bite the last thing on my mind right now) when my stomach growled louder in hunger. Maybe…

Fuck it.

The second bite was nowhere as bad as the first one after my expectations had already been shot. Still bitter, still nasty, but edible.

"So, what brought you here?" Lissa asked me the million dollar question as I ate in silence, the sleepiness washing away while I ate. And what was I going to answer? What did I want to be?

"How can you still be eating that?" Lissa said, looking at me as if I was a caveman. I shrugged. Nick hun- I was hungry, and I had worse. Like sugared pasta. Or sugaredchicken strips. I've had a lot of times that sugar was mistaken for salt, okay? Nevermind that. Excuse time.

Well, at least let's try to keep a consistent story. "Well, I dropped out of a portal that opened in the sky." I casually mentioned to her. That was still the strongest theory I had, considering that was the only way to travel between dimension and I wasn't in some nondescript island that held the only stable portal, while Lucina popped out of a random portal that closed soon after.

"You what?!" She shouted at me, finally waking up (quite brusquely too) the other two sleepyheads who were with us, whom I was starting to believe had a concentration of plot armor situated around their ears. Unlike them, I'm not a happy camper.

I stuck my pinky finger into my left ear. "Geeze Lissa, I think you might've woken up the dead with that shout." Daraen and Frederick rushed over, one of them with a lance in hand already.

I looked behind myself, looking for the Ylissean prince, also known as The Walking Plot™ since I had lost sight of him. Aaaand…

"Where's your brother?" I asked her, looking around myself. She shrugged, before narrowing her eyes at me. "Hey, I never told you my name, or that he was my brother." I froze a little, but Frederick came to the rescue.

"Milady! Are you alright?!" Frederick 'The Wary' Frederickson asked, pointing his Silver Lance in a non-unthreatening way towards me.

"Meep." I replied from my spot on the ground as I stared at the sharp point of a lance. Lissa waved her hands in front of her face to stop me from making me into a Nick Skewer, coming at ya, for just 2.99$!

I really ought to get less distracted.

"It's fine! I just got startled by a… snake." She tried to defuse the situation, and I nodded frantically. "It was huge!" I added. "And it had these weird gray scales with black stripes!"

"Was milady bitten?!" Frederick asked, looking extremely concerned. I almost felt bad for the guy, but it was strongly outweighed by the fact that he had just threatened to kill me without a second thought.

Lissa was about to say something, but I was faster. "Nope." I mentioned. "She shouted so loud it ran away. Still, I'd rather not be bitten by something in the night." I grumbled, faking concern, while Lissa nodded in agreement to my story. Thankfully Frederick bought it, because the next thing you know, he was going around, lifting up rocks and looking for a snake that fit our description.

Daraen remained with us however. "Where's Chrom?" He asked, completely uninterested in both me or the snake, and damn my sassy tongue, I couldn't stop myself. "Hello to you too R-Daraen." I deadpanned at him. He looked confused. "How do you know my name?" He asked as Lissa resumed narrowing her eyes at me.

I didn't even need to lie this time. "No better time to sneak in your names than open heart surgery." I chuckled. I didn't have to fake my shudder, because aside from it being the single most painful experience of my life, so much that I still feel it despite having been healed completely, feeling someone dig through the junk inside your chest and touching the ribs is just plain weird.

Lissa stared at me in empathy for what happened, but Daraen held no such regard. "About that. What happened to you to cause such a thing? Were there any bandits from Southtown that we didn't manage to clean up?"

"Sure. Let's go with that." I replied, not offering any information on the subject. Daraen noticed this and impatiently stared at me in askance. "Then what?" he said.

I got up, narrowing my eyes at the black/very dark blue haired guy. Unfortunately, the effect was rendered moot by the fact that I needed to look up to look at him in the eyes. I unfortunately was just slightly taller than Lissa, while this guy fell just short of Chrom height (5'9/175cm-ish). I didn't like this guy. While in the game he was meant to represent me and I wasn't a self-loathing asshole when I played the game the first time around, this time he was a complete other person. I don't know what people find so likeable about Daraen enough to make him able to make friends (or more than friends) with literally everybody, but he was the same person that could send people to their death without a hint of remorse.

"Well, I was stabbed in the gut after a severe case of Mindya." I told him, completely straightfaced. If his confused expression was anything to go by, he had fell for it. Lissa was also listening intently to me, though that was probably because it was a disease she had never heard of.

"Mindya? What is- nevermind that, what kind of disease requires you to be stabbed in the gut?!" Daraen asked, bewildered. I grinned at him, turning my back towards him.

"Well. To put it simply, Mindya is short for Mind your own damn business, asshole." I grinned, looking towards the forest. However, my amusement was short lived.

I knew exactly what was going on, but I still had to remain in character. "Um?" I called out to the three of them. Daren was grimacing at me, thinking about something. Frederick- pffft.

Frederick had ultimately managed to find the snake I had completely made up on the spot, and was lecturing Lissa on the fact that this species was completely harmless, and which snakes she was actually supposed to look out for. I cleared my throat loudly, making them all turn towards me.

"Is the prince of Ylisse known to be a pyromaniac?" I said, pointing towards the forest, a huge cloud of smoke that completely encompassed the sky above that chunk of the ex-forest. I say ex-forest because the flames were already in the process of devouring it entirely and without any kind of firefighters this place would soon become the Actual Charcoal Forest.

"No. No he's not." Frederick said with grave tone, and a hint of fear?

I took a deep breath, pondering over the fact that I had already fucked canon not even two hours in my stay in this world, assuming it to be real. It did feel pretty real.

"Well. Fuck." I summed up the situation.


	2. Chapter 2

**MChapter 2**

**Awakening characters have no feet**

You know, I have always been okay at following instructions. Sure, I'd occasionally add my own fun little twist what I did, but I assume that's something everyone does. But on the whole, despite how boring it must sound, I've always been a rather subservient person unless someone was on my bad side. Now that I think about it, not having anything I was really passionate about enough to not put myself aside if someone asked. Probably didn't do a lot for my self esteem.

That, combined with the fact that I was very obviously not a fighter (slightly muscular with a layer of fat, complete and utter lack of calluses on my hands and horrible hand eye coordination) _and _the fact that the cutscene was obviously not meant with my presence in mind had me staring after the retreating form of Frederick's horse as he, Lissa and Daraen rode towards fiery doom. It stung a little to just be left with a command of "Stay here" from Frederick, but I could understand why it had happened in the first place.

Anyways, as they rode towards _The Plot_, I didn't. Rather, I stayed there and kept munching on the terrible, terrible bear meat.

You know the foods that you hate but you also love? You're like "This is shit" as you continue eating it. That's kind of my current relationship with bear meat.

Why am I sitting like a lemon while any other person would've taken courage as their arms and followed after, you might ask?

Well. The abovementioned reasons are all great and reasonable candidates. But they still pale in the face of the _real _reason I was just standing here.

I was afraid of responsibilities. Afraid of seeing what could've happened to Chrom because of my appearing into this world. Afraid, and I had no idea what to do to fix it. While I could do whatever I wanted, that had become a problem in and of itself. Because what the hell did I even want to do?

Most people will easily tell you that they want to do something, or that they've never thought about it, but in general they all have something to look forward to. An horizon they keep walking towards, because they want to reach it. Some people do, some people don't.

That has never been the case with me. I distinctly remember being a happy little tyke with a goofy grin on his face and who was ready who take on the world, and admittedly when I wasn't feeling like shit I could also be like that as well. But a dream? A goal? Zero. Nix. Nonexistent. Nothing. Oblivion. Zilch. Complete and utter absence. I was particularly stubborn in doing nothing, if that makes any sort of sense. I know I often don't.

And so, just being thrown into a world I knew the future of was a recipe for disaster. Not even five minutes in, and I had possibly derailed canon forever. Sure, it might have been nothing, maybe Lissa not being there with Chrom was even an improvement, but… do you really wanna test Murphy like that?

And so here I was, stuck with myself brooding about life choices and how I didn't even manage to do the deed right and had nothing to reliably make a second attempt besides the fire.

Death by fire sucks. 0/10 wouldn't recommend to anyone, even if I didn't try it personally. It was popular in the times people believed that witches existed (would they be have been right in the fire emblem world?) but nah, it was just a popular trend that wore off pretty fast.

Am I really so bored that I'm rating death methods? I really wish I had my phone right now. At least I could check out more death methods to rate.

"World, give me something to do right now!" I snapped my fingers. Nothing happened.

Maybe it needed a bit more convinced. "I said, world, give me something to do. Right now!" I snapped my fingers once again. Nothing happened.

I rolled my eyes. Maybe reverse psychology would work? "Well, I guess nothing really will happen…" I said, faux closing my eyes in pure trust, before snapping them open.

Deneppah gninhtoN.

I got up, kicking a conveniently placed stone out of the way. "With how sarcastic life has been with me up until now it's a wonder why nothing has happened s_anta madre di dio what the fuck is that thing._" I jumped back as I saw the monstrosity that was… slowly… making its way towards me.

You know, the games didn't do the risen much justice at all. They made you think that a risen was similar to the classic idea of a zombie: rotting corpse, shambling, et cetera et cetera. From what I'm witnessing right now, these things are much more similar to Frankenstein's monster. Gray complexion, stitches all around and we definitely can't forget about the glowing red eyes or the smell of death, but otherwise looked disturbingly like a regular person.

Why is it relevant?

Because the damn thing broke into a sprint as soon as it saw me see him, running way faster than I could ever hope to with a massive blade on my back like the one he had.

One thing I should mention is that I am not a very tall person. I'm not ashamed to say that I am about as tall as Lissa from what I've seen, and Chrom easily towers over her with nearly over a foot in height. That's even worse if you compare me to Daraen, who is slightly taller than Chrom, or Frederick, who's a freaking monster.

Now, this guy was even taller than Frederick. Two meters (or 6'6, for American folks), I'd wager. From the looks of it, the forehead protector that looked straight out of a Naruto episode was fairly memorable, he was a Mercenary, which was a weird distinction to call them by because how can Mercenary be a class? It's more of a job, and there are definitely people who sell their fighting skills but use a lance, or an axe, are those considered mercenaries too-

Now's not the time for mental rambling. He's a merc, that's it.

I put my hands under me to push myself up, but by then he was already onto me.

I may or may not have screamed like a little girl as its blade plunged into the ground before me. That is not for the world to know.

What is for the world to know, is that I'm alive!...

Do I even want to remain alive?

…

Not the time to ignore survival instincts. I can do that later. Now, fighting this guy. We'll call him Bill the undead guy.

Bill, considering the fact that he rammed his blade into the ground with every intention of separating my head from my body, found himself quite impaired when the blade dug into dirt instead of neck. So, when I kicked him away with both feet from my grounded position as he was trying to extract the blade he actually stumbled away and fell onto his butt, sending the sword that had been extracted by both my efforts (the kick) and his flying. "Meep." I said as the sword fell near my neck.

I'll freely admit that I didn't manage to hold in the snort from witnessing a Risen just stumble and fall. That, apparently, was not appreciated by Bill the dead guy, because he glared at me and began getting up. He had done me a favor by letting his sword fall onto the ground though. Getting up, I lifted the heavy sword from the ground, stumbling only slightly at its weight. I'm the armed one now! Take that, Bill! I never liked you anyways!

I turned to stare at the risen who had regained its bearings and had began walking towards me, those glowing red eyes glaring into my soul, and now that they weren't hooked around a sword's handle those hands revealed deadly claws just waiting to rip me to shreds.

It was a battle for the ages, a test of manliness, my sword skills against the risen's claws, the ultimate challenge!

"Ĝ̶ͅr̷̻͗o̸̞͝o̴̖͒ö̴̲́a̵͙͋r̷̬̄g̸̼͒ḧ̶̙́" The risen groaned at me.

…

Yeah, no, miss me with that shit. I'm outta here.

Clutching the stolen broadsword from the earlier struggle to my chest while desperately trying not to cut myself, I broke off into a sprint in the direction opposite to the risen's, and if the footsteps I heard behind me he was in hot pursuit.

"Have *pant* I *pant* lost him?" I panted , holding myself to a tree while I tried to suck in air, a thin layer of sweat trying its damndest to protect myself from the self-induced heat.

I glanced behind myself, seeing no trace whatsoever of Bill or any other Risen. Letting myself fall to the ground, I panted like a dog.

If it wasn't clear enough, I was _not _used to this amount of exercise. I wouldn't even have lugged this thing around if it wasn't the only available source of self-defense and possibly a quickly way out.

Speaking of the sword, it now lay in front of me, a thin layer of blood and dirt covering it. Long… slightly more than my arm, and it looked decent, though I was nowhere near able to tell the quality of a weapon. I just knew that it wasn't gonna break anytime soon unless I put it under a huge amount of abuse and leave it at that.

It also looked beautiful, somehow.

Now, I never was one to be a sentimental chap about "the first weapon" or "the first item" you ever get into a videogame. I found it quite stupid to waste one inventory slot just for a bad item. And yet…

This was the mark of my first ever success against a Risen (of sorts). A confirmation that I had effectively one-upped someone that, by all means, should've killed me with little trouble.

And it was mine. Belonged to no one else but me.

Pushing myself up with trembling arms, I picked up the sword and used it as a crutch to get up.

"You know" I panted out. "I probably won't get out alive out of here either way, so I guess I have to do this now." I began thinking a name for the sword. It was a laughable and frankly insane concept, but I already admitted to having a few screws loose when I admitted to myself that I had somehow reached the world of Fire Emblem. Going to have to look into that one, by the way.

Anyways, naming time. Let's see… I should name it something that is completely and utterly meaningless to anyone who doesn't know me. And even then. It should also be something that speaks of its origin, but also not.

I tapped my fingers against the bark of a tree in thought.

"Let's see, I stole this sword, stolen, stealing is what thieves do, thieves, thief, tiff... Oh!" I snapped my fingers. "Alright I got it, you're gonna be Tiffany!" I told the blade. No response.

I burst into laughter, which probably wasn't the best indication of my mental state, at the name I had given it. I don't think anyone would ever grasp the meaning behind it, and it was fine since I was probably never gonna tell anyone. But to me, this sword was Tiffany.

"Alright." I said, hefting her up onto my shoulder. "Where the hell am I now?" I stilled myself and tried to listen for any sound that may be indicative of something I should look for (or avoid) when I heard something.

"Captain Chrom!" Someone shouted from… relatively near me.

No way.

No fucking way.

I can't have literally stumbled upon the plot. Not like this.

Making my way in between the foliage while trying to make myself as quiet as possible, I reached a relatively open area. There, I saw something that made the blood utterly drain from my face.

Frederick, running undead after undead through with his lance, looking downright furious. His horse looked like it had taken the brunt of the assault from the undead group, but it was still kicking.

Daraen, with a deep gash on his shoulder, shooting out a ball of lightning that fried a risen axeman who got a little too close to him.

Sully and Virion who had just arrived on the scene like me and were already putting themselves to use, Sully covering for Daraen's flank while Virion kept himself relatively distant from the fighting and occasionally shot someone who got in his range.

Lissa, crying her eyes out, was literally holding her heal staff with her teeth (and using it) while bandaging up someone.

And Chrom…

Chrom was laying sit down against a tree, Falchion to his side as he tried to bear through the pain of what was going on with a few groans. I definitely did not fault him, he was taking this like a champ.

I would definitely be more than groaning if a sizeable chunk of my leg had been cut off.

"Fuck me." I whispered under my breath as my eyes locked onto the Risen that were making their way towards the group.

* * *

Saying that the day was going poorly for Astrid would be an understatement. The amount of poorly that this day was going could be compared to someone losing his own home after betting it at a casino and remaining in just his underpants. That's how poor it was. But she wouldn't falter, her body language told everything. Longer than average legs stayed sure in their stride, walking with purpose along the streets of Manchester, épée at her side, the hilt being something her friends had had custom made for her, as she gracefully avoided the crowd. All that for one purpose. Making sure that no one realized that she was lost.

It wasn't her fault! The person that was supposed to accompany her to her match had gotten sick after spending two hours in the rain to catch some type of insect, the oddball, and couldn't make it. She figured that after three years of using the same road she could make it if she just walked where she remembered. Then she rounded a corner, and realized that she had no clue where she was. With a heavy sigh, she fished her phone out of her pocket as she met with a sign in front of her. This was the street that her Uber, an app that she would've never thought she would download and that cut heavily into her monthly data usage, had agreed to pick her up on in about two minutes.

Hopefully she didn't find a weirdo. Or rather, hopefully she didn't find a dangerous weirdo. Some weirdos could be entertaining to be around, or they could at least be an experience worth telling others. One day Clark, a not-quite-close friend but still nice to be around had told her how she had found a woman whose car smelled heavily like pineapples and, once the short trip was over, offered him the biggest pineapple he had ever seen in his life. The thing, to his claim, weighed a little over 9 pounds. Insane.

The cars kept coming and going, not one looking like it was going to be her ride. She adjusted her ugly beige duffle bag marginally so that it wouldn't be pressing so hard onto her shoulder, something she wouldn't be caught having on her person ever if she had the choice of fitting all her equipment in her purse. It was getting colder here, a faint outline of her breath visible at every exhale. To be fair, she didn't even like fencing all that much when she was outside of it. The urge to just give up on the match right now to laze at home and try and binge something on netflix or even catch up on her studies was strong, but then she remembered the adrenaline that poured into her veins each time that she was actually face to face with her opponent, imagining to herself that she was a medieval noble, or one of the three musketeers, a smile creeped along her face.

HOONK! She was snapped out of her thoughts by a loud but brief honking sound coming from the street, realizing that her ride had finally arrived. How did she not notice that? The car and its rider were odd, containing enough anime-ish elements to be anything but professional, but not enough to be distasteful, she supposed. On further inspection, she realized that there was a symbol on the hood of the car that she would've definitely thought was part of a cult, had she not been familiar with it. It was a moon facing upward, the outward part of its two edges and the center having spikes coming out of them, and inside the moon a drop. Other, less noticeable things were there like a Lucina Amiibo glued in front of the steering wheel and the rider himself having dyed cyan hair, who was waving at her with a smile on his face. Yup, she had definitely found a weirdo.

"Good evening, miss." The guy said as she approached. "You're..." He momentarily looked down on the phone that he had in hand. She was definitely annoyed if he looked at it even once during their ride, that was just irresponsible. "Astrid Berlin, going to the fencing gym?" she nodded. "I would ask if you were Marko Sleep, but that would seem redundant." she greeted back, opening the back seat to find... weapons. Or rather, what seemed to be props of weapons, books, and whatnot. "..." she stayed silent as she stared at the mess in front of her. "Uhm..." "Might you sit in the front seat, ma'am? I have a bunch of... stuff... in the back." He sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Alright..." she walked around the car, taking the moments she passed by the windows to check out the props in the back. She had to admit, for all that this guy was a weirdo, he was a dedicated one. "Thanks a bunch. Not many people are willing to go through the trouble of going through the deathtrap that is the street around here." She wasn't even joking. For the brief amount of time that she had a car for herself she had caused an accident on this very street, which prompted a hasty removal of her license by a not-so-kind officer. Marko shook his head at her thanks, offering her a smile. "It was nothing." he drummed his fingers awkwardly on the steering wheel. "I've noticed that you were checking out the things I had in the back." he eventually commented. "Any one of them draw your attention?"

"Actually, I was intrigued about this." she said with a wry smile, looking at the figurine that was behind the steering wheel. "A fan of the Fire Emblem series?" she asked. To her surprise, the man shrugged. "Not really. I'm sure you've noticed the amount of stuff related to that series in here. Most of them are leftover stuff that a friend brought over from a japanese convention, and he decided that they were of more use in my hands than his. Anything catch your fancy? I see you'd make a fine Lord with that at your side. Whatever you want, it's yours, I really don't need it." he gave her a wry smile of his own.

"I..." she said, awkwardly twisting her body to look once again at the pile of weapon props, grabbing a purple tome. "Is there anything actually written in this?" she was about to open it when Marko made a brusque stop that had her flying forward, hand get clipped by one of the swords. To her major surprise, despite the cut being so small, it was bleeding. Did this guy keep actual weapons in the back of his car?! What the hell?!

"Are you okay?!" he turned to face her, staring worriedly. "I didn't mean to stop the car like that, we just got cut off by an asshole who didn't quite manage to notice that the light was red. Do you want medical assistance, or anything?" he said. Still, she was a tough girl, and the guy looked genuinely distraught, so she wasn't going to press charges or anything.

And she still had a match to go to. "No, no. Just take me where I need to be. And I guess I'll keep this, since I don't have the risk of cutting myself with anything except the paper." She grumbled. Marko offered an apologizing smile as he refocused on the road as she sucked on her thumb and flipped open the tome. A major amount of disappointment came in the form of finding out that the book was a gibberish of symbols, which either meant that they just printed random stuff on it or that she'd have to decipher it, and in either case she had better things to do than to look at an incomprehensible book.

Still, that swerve had left her quite shook and she preferred to keep her eyes on the road and buckle her seatbelt, something that she should've done in the first place. What left her even more shook was that she felt the touch of something pointy on her thigh, making her jump. When she looked between her legs (get stupid thoughts out of your mind now) she saw that the Lucina statue had broken off from its stand, and the blade of Falchion had poked her in the thigh, making her look in incomprehension for a second. Were amiibos this fragile...?

That second was enough for Marko to snatch the figure out of between her legs, looking sort of angry at it and she tried really hard to avoid thinking the implications of the fact that he had seemingly no problem in putting his hand where he had. She just wanted to get to the gym already. "Gods damnit." he mumbled, before opening the storage compartment in his car in front of her, tossing the thing inside and closing it.

"I'm sorry, I'm hoping as much as you are that this is over as soon as possible." He sighed with a weariness that didn't show before, and she felt a bit of pity for him. "It's fine." she began, remembering what she had thought earlier. "If anything, this will be-" "An experience worth telling others?" he finished for her. "Yeah, I guess." he smiled slightly.

She remained silent as he kept driving, slightly creeped out by the fact that he had basically read her mind and stole her catchphrase. "Water?" He offered out of the blue. "You've been sweating." he reached backwards and produced an almost full small bottle of water from somewhere.

She was about to refuse, because the bottle had clearly already been opened, but realized how thirsty she was and gave a curt nod, accepting and greedily drinking the non-beverage. As he kept driving, she heard the figurine rattle a bit inside the compartment, moved by the movement of the car. This was becoming all sorts of creepy, she realized, but she soldiered on. Her throat was still dry from all the talking, and she realized that she had been clutching the duffle bag in her lap for warmth until now, together with the fact that she had a heavy jacket on, and the AC was blasting hot air on her face, she hadn't even realized, and the cold from before was completely gone.

"Stop the car." she said, her head spinning. "I'm feeling dizzy." And she was. With each second that passed, she nearly felt like throwing up.

"Ah, good. It should be taking effect then." he said in the same calm voice, same friendly smile. "You-you drugged me!" She felt herself saying, and the fact that she felt such detachment was bad. Very bad. The water was it, wasn't it?

She tried to open the car door, but it was locked. "So I did." he said, as if he hadn't just committed a heinous crime. "Night night, Astrid Berlin~" He said, and she felt like the staying awake was punching her in the face repeatedly and she was rapidly losing the struggle. A few moments later, she was off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Edit 06/04/19: I forgot my beta reader's annotations into the chapter. Because of course I have... *sigh* it has been fixed since. I apologize for any weirdness.**

**Risen Afoot**

_"I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am." -Charles Horton Cooley_

Ylisse, Daraen decided, was quite more hectic than he would've preferred. Risen were not supposed to be here yet, not that he remembered (then againhe was here for a reason), but apparently Grima did not share the sentiment. Not even a day's worth in the old Ylisse and he had already found himself in two skirmishes. Scanning over the battlefield for ambushes from the dark, he pushed out another ball of Thunder, panting as the book came dangerously close to running out of pages. He wiped his brow on the sleeve of his coat and muttered.

"Gods above, we'd need a miracle right about now…" only half joking. He was confident that they could've made it through if ANYONE listened to him, he could probably even turn Chrom as he was now into someone serviceable, but such was the power of desperation and mistrust, what with Frederick doing just whatever he wanted and Lissa being… useless. Which was also why he didn't see himself trying to wrestle control of the Risen from this world's dormant Grima who had apparently taken over them, not after they already engaged in combat with them.

He frankly didn't 'believe' in any of the gods, not in the strict sense of "hoping for things to happen out of nowhere" having met his fair share of them and all of them proving to either be useless or jackasses, but this was as good of a time to be proved wrong as any.

"Captain Chrom!" a voice from behind him shouted. He whirled around to witness a redheaded knight, a fairly young man-_woman_? Ah, Sully. That is great.

_Sully_

**20 HP 7 STR 1 MAG SKL 8 LCK 6 DEF 7 RES** **2**

"No gaping, ya creep! Where's the captain?" and suddenly he had a lance pointed at his nose. He cleared his throat. He supposed that this _could _be called a miracle. She was one of the Shepherds, and quite capable if he remembered correctly. He shook his head.

"Nevermind that. I'm Daraen, the Shepherds' new tactician. Chrom's down, we still haven't managed to figure out what got him. Can you follow orders?" He bluntly asked, pointing where the Ylissean prince was, somewhat hidden in the trees to avoid further harm.

Sully turned, only to wince at the state the blue haired man was reduced in. "Eeesh. Yeah, yeah. Name's Sully by the way. Can't wait to ram my spear into the (omitted) of the idiot who did this!" she shouted in a mix between enthusiasm and rage, making him wince at the amount of attention she was drawing to herself from the Risen. He supposed he should have been careful what he wished for, but this was exactly the turn of events that they needed. He was running out of Thunder tomes, and while there was a sword in his pouch, he was loathe to expose himself to Frederick to use it. The thunder was a million times better since he hardly had to fear the enemy retaliation, and it gave one less reason for Frederick to be distrustful of him around weapons. And while he didn't doubt the Great Knight's capabilities, he did not trust him to be able to win this by himself with three dead weights after he ran out of pages.

"Right. Can you manage hit and run tactics together with Frederick on whomever manages to get too close? We're severely outnumbered, and without Lissa able to split her focus onto anyone else, we're hard pressed to stay as safe as possible." She flashed him a grin and a thumbs up and off she was, using her horse's acquired momentum to remove a Myrmidon's head from its shoulders.

"Hold your horse milady!" suddenly Daraen heard a suave voice pant from behind him. "Quite literally!" Daraen turned around to see a teal haired man wearing a bib running towards him, bow in hand. Ah. Virion. Daraen cocked an eyebrow at him at the turn of events. "Are you with her?" he asked, warily glancing at the slowly advancing zombies. The first time around he was... already waiting at the barracks, perhaps?

"Most definitely, my black-haired friend! And you are?" The man asked, noticing the monstrosities behind Daraen as well. Without prompting, he continued. "Alas, it appears a warrior's job is never done with these creatures!" He dramatically said, making some of the undead (and the Shepherds) heads turn towards himself. That, however, had apparently been his intention because he had already tensed his bow and had just nailed with a grand flourish of the arrow in his hand one of the nearest zombies in the eye, even bowing at the end of it, though he was already reaching with the other hand another arrow out of his quiver. Daraen's eyes couldn't help but categorically analyze every aspect of the man's figure, translating it into numbers. Everything was easier if translated into numbers, more methodical.

_Virion  
__**HP 19 STR 6 MAG 0 SKL 11 SPD 5 LCK 7 DEF 6 RES 1**_

He was definitely nothing to scoff at. Not quite on Frederick's level, whom had Daraen pale at the fact that Frederick could actually follow on the threat of separating his head from his shoulder. Still, he could appreciate all the extra help, though in a small-scale battle like this, archers were rather impractical for they could not overwhelm enemies with numbers nor be protected adequately from the enemy breaching. Not that he was complaining, but maybe Daraen could hope for another small miracle?

…of course not, who was he kidding? These two were probably just a coincidence.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Suddenly a scream tore through the air as a familiar kid with a charge towards a zombiefied mage Daraen couldn't help but stare in slack-jawed horror.

Said kid reared back and swung his sword with all his might and, stumbling stabbed the sword he was holding with both arms in the Risen's chest, but not doing enough damage to kill it. Daraen subconsciously put this newcomer into numbers.

_Nick  
__**HP 14 STR 4 MAG 0 SKL 2 SPD 3 LCK 4 DEF 2 RES 1**_

"He's going to get himself killed." Daraen breathed out. He didn't remember Nick being much of a fighter to begin with, but this was just… he was basically a liability.

The mage, who was standing in the enemy backline (Formed by himself, an archer and an axeman) did not hesitate to retaliate against its assailant with a fireball to the chest that sent the boy reeling away from it. And by the gods, that scream.

For all the guts that the boy was showing against people that were clearly bigger and stronger than him, he had clearly never seen any live combat. So, when the fireball hit him, he did not simply take it like he, Frederick or Chrom would've taken it. He just screamed in pain, dropping the sword and clutching his chest while sobbing.

"Frederick!" Daraen commanded to the strongest and fastest member of the group, thankfully receiving a nod. He honestly would've much preferred to just be able to turtle up with his little bunch of men, but time was not on their side. Thankully, their other allies had picked up on this as well and, with a last glance towards the blue haired prince and his sister to make sure that no Risen were making their way towards them, Daraen jumped onto Frederick's horse, who rushed into the fray.

"Thunder!" Daren shouted, tearing yet another page out of the tome and turning it into a ball of electricity that danced at his fingertips. It landed on the Mercenary that was in their way, making it so that Frederick wouldn't need to stop his charge. The zombie was successfully fried, but unlike a regular human being, it didn't even flinch or even drop its weapon. "Tch." Daraen tore another page out of his tome and raised his hand in the air right as it was about to try and slash at Frederick, finishing off the bastard. _Ten left, seven thunder uses only. Sword untouched._ A glance behind himself revealed that… the two, Sully and Virion, were following. That was good. And bad. But mostly good.

Frederick took that moment to have his horse leap to the boy's aid, piercing the head of the risen mage with his Silver Lance, who was the most imminent threat.

_Nine._

"Are you alright?!" Daraen jumped down from the horse to check on the boy's wounds. Thankfully, he had been wise, sort of, and had rolled in the grass while removing his shirt, that had kept burning until it was a fine pile of ash, leaving him in just his undershirt. "Great, now I need to play medic too since Lissa's busy." Daraen grumbled, hoisting with some difficulty the kid to his feet. His chest had received the worst of the damage, burns covering-

"Thunder!" Daraen snapped upright and launched another ball of thunder to a Risen that was getting a little too close and too cocky, making the boy flinch. Sully's horse leapt after it to finish it off, not even bothering to spear him through and just stampeding him.

_Eight._

"Hold still, shut up" Daraen ordered, annoyed by the boy's grunts of pain. "And help me help you! Here" Daraen took out the vulnerary from his bag. "Rub this on the burn. It'll sting, but it'll hurt you worse if you don't do it." He said, turning towards the battle once again. Sully, Frederick and Virion had done a good job covering for them, clearing the area around of any imminent threat in melee. However, as it seemed, their enemies had started to wisen up and increase their distance from the Shepherds. Daraen winced as he saw an arrow nick the red headed cavalier's ear, taking a small chunk of it, but she just seemed to shrug it off. Still, that was way too close. The next time-

Daraen's head reared back as a tug of the kid's hand brought him down as an axe sailed above him, making the handle slam against his head instead before falling to the ground.

Somewhat dizzy, Daraen tore a page out his book to retaliate against the fighter but had to duck to avoid getting brained by an arrow. Gods damn it, they were basically laying siege to them!

"Everyone! Pull back into the trees and-!" But apparently fate had other plans for them as he saw the tip of Falchion sticking out of one of the archers' bodies. What?

"Chrom?" Daraen asked hopefully as he saw blue hair, but a glance farther down the road revealed that the blue haired prince was now trying to stand up on one foot, propping himself up with the same Falchion that was sticking out. But then- which of the kids was it? Daraen couldn't tell as the face was hidden by a mask and the hair too short to be related to either of the girls.

No matter. He had gotten distracted enough in this fight. He could ask questions such as the identity of the woman (or boy) later.

"Frederick, Sully, let's cash in on that distraction!" Daraen shouted, pointing towards the enemy backlines. "You, you're with me, cover fire!" he said, pointing to Virion as he finally managed to make use of the crumpled page that was making his hand tingle as he shot the ball of lightning towards a mercenary.

"What about me?" the current source of his headache asked besides him as he looked about done with applying the ointment to his chest. Daraen turned for a second and pointed towards where the other liabilities were sitting. "Go there, get yourself looked over. Your earlier stunt nearly cost us all our lives." Daraen reprimanded.

"_And you would be missing your brain were it not for me._" The brunette gasped out venomously, but at least followed his directions, picking the broadsword off the ground and stumbling away from the battlefield.

Things went well for them, from here on out. The rest of the enemies were cleared up without much fanfare thanks to the bluenette's sword skills and the combined assault from the rest of them. Chrom even managed to get one of them who had gotten too close for comfort. It was a close fight, with Chrom's space being limited to just the tree he was leaning on, but with a bit of distraction from Lissa he was able to quickly separate the soldier's head from its shoulders.

It was done. Through sheer dumb luck and frustration as the Shepherds he remembered worked as a much better unit, making him curse at the thought of having to earn everyone's trust over again just to be able to do his job as a field tactician properly, they had won.

And there was no trace of the to-be-otherworldly intervener anywhere.

**STAGE COMPLETE!**

**Turns: 11  
Heroes: Daraen and Frederick**

* * *

I made my way through the forest, not really caring for anything except for wanting to get away from everything.

Honestly, I have no idea what was I thinking.

Hurr durr, you got transported to the Fire emblem world, so_ what, you absolute dipshit?_ Do you honestly think you can just pick up a sword and fight?

Well I have some bad _fucking _news for you!

Or, well, me. Still.

Once again, I was only a burden to those around me. Like I was to my parents, my brother, and just about anyone who has had the displeasure to meet me. I should just…

I stared down at the sword I was still carrying in my hands. I didn't have my old knife, but… bigger was better, right?

I don't know how long I waited, my mind a haze of emotions as I stared entranced at the sword.

I made my choice.

Spinning Tiffany in a reverse grip, my arms barely long enough to make it to the handle, I raised it, pointing at my chest.

And I waited.

…

Just get the fucking courage to do it, you coward! It's not a novel experience now is it?!

"Please, stay your blade Nick!" I heard a voice call out behind me. I vaguely recognized it as from one of the characters of the game, but it was none of the ones I met. And there was only one of the characters who could logically know me that I couldn't remember. Lucina.

An insignificant part of my mind was disappointed when I couldn't associate her voice, despite the fact that she was making it deeper than usual, to that of Laura Bailey. I liked hearing her in Hearthstone.

What did she want from me now?

"…why?" I droned tonelessly, unable to get myself to face her. "It's not like I'm of any use now am I?"

"You are important to a lot of people, in the future!" she told me, and I gripped the sword tighter as I heard her take a step forward. "The other Nick made it through himself, you can too. I'm sure he wouldn't want this to happen, and neither do you…" she trailed off.

"Ah. So he's still alive?" Until now, it didn't occur to me that canon changes would imply that someone from Gen 1 could be alive and into the past. Hindsight's 20/20 though.

"He… yes, he is." 'Marth' confirmed, sounding confused though at the sudden change of subject.

"…good." I replied, raising my arms back that were dragged down by the sword's weight. "There's Nick in spares then, and he sounds like a decent guy. No need for me."

"Will you just listen to me for a minute!" I heard her voice break, and a hand landed on my shoulder, making me tense up even more. "Why are you so hellbent on this?!" she asked, sounding nearly desperate.

I turned to stare at her. She was frowning deeply, staring at me, and because of her mask no other emotions were betrayed. "Because I can't do anything right? Because I'm a useless leech on society as a whole? Because I inevitably make the lives of those around me worse?" I asked rethorically, closing my eyes.

It was only a moment in which I heard a blade being drawn, and with my lack of timing, I only managed to get it close to me as it was knocked out of my hand, Parallel Falchion drawing a huge arc in the air that accidentally nicked me in the side as she slashed from beside me.

Well… fuck.

My hand and eyes flew to my side unconsciously, where I saw that an angry red cut had made its way through the bandages. It spoke about her mastery of the blade that it barely bled at all, although it still hurt like a bitch when touching it.

"I'm sorry!" she said with a slight gasp, eyeing my side, and I shrugged. Out of everything that happened today, it certainly wasn't going to be one more wound that ruins my day. One more wasn't going to cut it.

"…why?" I asked her, voicing my earlier concern. "I know you, but only as a…" I paused for a second, looking for the right term. "Seer. You know me, but only as a different person." I stared at the bluenette, and it truly was like looking at a stranger you know everything about. I felt my eyes water.

"Have you decided to quit this idiocy or do I have to whack it into you that the future needs you? That _we _need you?" Lucina asked heatedly. I didn't respond, I felt so completely and utterly drained that I couldn't even will my lips to move.

The pressure behind my eyes was getting immense, I was shaking. I think my face was getting swollen from crying, though I honestly couldn't be sure.

I kept staring at her, taking in her appearance.

I honestly don't know how she didn't draw suspicion in canon. Standing slightly taller than me, with short, blue hair that framed the masked face and, together with her choice of outfit that screamed BLUE worse than an Eiffel 65 song and looked very princely, and with the fact that she was doing really nothing to prevent Falchion from being seen meant that it was kind of obvious who she was.

At least it was very hard to tell it was a woman from sight alone, due to either being flat-chested or having bound it.

I think my head is going to burst. Can it just do that randomly? I hope so. I want to get away from here. And sleep. Sleep a lot.

"What the- oi!" she shouted. "Snap out of it! What are you doing!" a surprisingly strong grip on my shoulder as she began shaking me. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend the method to anyone to deal with a person in shock, but at least something right was done. The burns on my chest were getting agitated, which in turn generated pain. Pain was grounding. Pain was good, pain meant alive. Even when I didn't want it.

And like a dam, the shock I was into broke, replaced by noisy sobs.

"Look at you." She huffed. Again. "One of the saviors of the world crying like this. Aren't you supposed to be the mature one?" she asked.

"I…" I swallowed a thick glob of saliva. Deep breaths. "I-I'm not one yet." Or ever, but I think everything would just get worse if I said that. My brain then processed what she said. "…s-savior? As in, the world gets saved?" I asked. The cut in my side stung, as did the rest of my body. But at least it kept my head

"That's something that Lord Nicholas wishes to tell you personally, for some reason." She said, giving me the impression that she wanted to be anywhere else at the moment. I would too. "I have this too. Marko said that he had 'a hunch'" She made air quotes before reaching into… oh, a thigh bag. "that I would meet you, and they're almost always right, so…" a… cipher card? She took between two fingers and handed me said card. I pocketed it for the time being. I didn't have any mental energy to devote to it.

"How…" I began, but I didn't even know what I wanted to say. "W-who is this Marko?" I asked.

She paused. "…if you don't know, I think it's not my place to say. Sorry." She said. Another long pause as I lowered myself to the ground, sitting down before she spoke up.

"I must leave. She declared before asking, more softly "Will you be alright by yourself?" I nodded minutely. I honestly didn't know, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it. As she turned to leave, I choked one last thing out, chuckling. "I never expected our first meeting to be like this, Lucina."

She froze up for a moment, before her pace hurried up as she left. And once more, I was left alone with my thoughts.

Taking the card out of my pocket, I inspected it. It looked like a cipher card, depicting a smiling Sain (the green knight from Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword) clad in green armor, standing next to his horse and wooing a surprised girl. Typical.

As was everything else.

I stared at the card in my hands in thought. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" I asked myself. The future me had clearly done something to interact with the timeline, Lucina even called him "Lord". What would happen if I just bury my head in the sand and hope for the best, despite what I have already changed, would it still be the same, or would it have changed because the future me has changed things?

…did the other me see it coming that I was gonna be so passive and did this to guilt trip me into helping out?

But regardless, I have my fate sealed with having to deal with the plot with what Lucina said. She clearly said Lord Nicholas, which is me, and… shit. Shit!

Why? Can't everyone just leave me alone?!

And-

"F̴͜͏̷̴l̴e̴̢̕͠s̡҉h̴̷̡͜͞.̧̛́.̢͠͏̵̡.͡͏́̀" I heard a drawn out groan from the forest, making me flinch. And out of a (figurative, it's a forest) corner popped out the last "person" I expected to see.

"Oh my fucking god." I groaned out, voice raspy, in an ungodly mix of annoyance and fear. "Bill." Bill the undead guy, still weaponless, stared me down.

"Ḑ҉̡̨i̶͝e̴̸͘!͞҉̢̀" it screeched, running towards me. Well, I suppose that this is as good a time to change fate.

…

What a weird concept. I'd have to keep canon, this timeline's canon at any rate, intact by staying with the Shepherds and effectively wrecking the canon I know and going against what I think best.

"Aaaargh!" *thud*

You hear that? That was the sound of an idiot getting himself slashed across his already burned torso and falling down because he's got absolutely zero situational awareness. I did manage to at least get myself partially out of the way so that he couldn't grab me or cut too deep, but it still hurt. This asshole.

I rolled, and kept rolling until I could grab Tiffany from where it had been knocked before and swung wildly in front of myself as I got up, trying to kill it.

It didn't work. Bill just jumped back and from my position on the ground I hit preciously little, barely sinking my sword into my foe and making me black out for a moment from the sheer effort. The guy reared back to slash at me again-

"Adieu!" When a man bellowed and an arrow very nearly pierced my ear, making my hairs stand on end. That was way too close for comfort.

The arrow sailed true as it struck into its head, and suddenly my sword met a lot less resistance as Bill began literally melting.

In fact, I met far too little resistance, making it so that my sword carried me farther into the zombie, stumbling into its body as it began disappearing in a fog under me. They… really do that. Huh.

"Urgh." I said as all the pain finally caught up to me and the zombie disappeared completed under me. Rest in pepperoni Bill.

The slashes on my chest were sluggishly bleeding now. His claws hit along my collarbone rather than my meaty parts, which I was… moderately grateful for. It still burned with the rage of a thousand suns (hyperbole is the way to ignore all my problems) but at least I wasn't dying too fast. I felt a little something hard under my leg, and lifted it up just enough to grab it. It felt like… a small metal ring? I shoved it in my pocket. Whatever it was was not important now.

…

The grassy floor is nice. A step up from sleeping against a tree with a knife sticking in your gut. Sleeping was the only thing I wanted to do now.

Something was being said. Most likely. I think.

"Chrom was wrong." I mused, muttering to myself. "The ground is a perfectly acceptable place to sleep on." I muttered to myself, and out like a light I was.

* * *

Astrid came to a plethora of sensations striking her one after another. Touch came first, as she felt blades of grass tickling her nose as she lied on the grassy floor. Hearing was a close second, though it only served to confirm that she was somewhere in a forest through the faint sound of crickets. Few and far between, and not at all what she would expect from a forest. Some amount of time later, her muddled thoughts did not allow keeping track of time, she figured that she was in a position where sight would not work, face down into the grass, rather than being left without it entirely. Mustering up the will to move was something else entirely. Whatever the guy had slipped her must've been something quite- _The guy._ With an urgency that momentarily wiped any feeling of sluggishness, she shot up fast from where she was lying. In fact, she shot up a little too fast, because the next thing she knew she was swaying dangerously, trying hard to mantain her balance. Ultimately, she found herself with a hand on the ground, knees bent and trying to understand just what was going on. Had she been dumped in the forest or something? Were there even ANY noteworthy forests near Manchester?

"Anyone there? This was not funny ten minutes ago," she waited to finish the phrase until she had an interlocutor, but no one seemed to come forth. Had she been dumped here in like, a cop chase or something? But coppers usually were loud, or at least would be visible in an area like this... Frowning, she began patting herself down for anything that could be useful in this situation. She had... her epee. It was still tied to her side. So she had a slightly pointy stick to defend herself from an assailant, great. She was decent at fencing, but she honestly didn't believe that in a realistic situation it would do her any good. At least it was slightly better than trying to gain the upper hand on someone with her own two fists. And... "...still not funny." She growled to herself when the only other thing she could find on herself, besides her clothes, her "weapon" and... a book in a leather hip holster that was most definitely not there. The purple book filled with gibberish. She reached to grab it so that she could toss it away and have a bag that despite being empty could prove useful if she found any of her other belongings, only to retract it a second later as she felt a... jolt? Of something. It was like her heart had just skipped a beat, except that it wasn't her heart but her entire being. A difficult sensation to understand, let alone describe it.

...and yet. She wanted to do it again. Perhaps she wanted to make sure that she hadn't imagined it, or she just wanted to feel it again, for some odd reason. Similar to when you gnaw at your lip despite hurting. Slowly, in a way not unlike a scared animal, she reached over to touch the book. She felt the same shock, this time more similar to being electrocuted by a low voltage as she removed it from the holster. She pried it open in an almost sluggish fashion and gasped. If before was like the low hum of an electrical current, not enough to really do anything but tickle her hand, now whatever this was was just flooding her body with... stuff. And then it was over as out of her peripheral vision she caught _fire_. Most definitely a book's worst enemy, and in general life as a whole's foe too. Reluctantly, very much so, she put the book back in her holster and gave a last small sweep to her surroundings for anything that may have fallen off her. And then, she ran.

She didn't know for how long she ran, to be honest. You were supposed to get out of the potential "Area of effect" of a fire, right? That meant that despite having already made her way away from the fire proper, leaving the forest was still the best idea. She most definitely didn't want to take a breather only to find herself surrounded by flames. But eventually, something had to give, be it the forest or her legs, and the forest won. She tripped, legs hurting with a vengeance at being used despite not being ready to do so due to the mistery drug she was given, and fell face first onto the ground. "Uuuuuurgh..." she moaned in pain. "...was Marko the one to set the forest on fire...?" She momentarily worried, and shuddered at the idea. "That's some SAW level shit, through and through..." by now the high off whatever the book was had given way to adrenaline, which was slowly giving way to nothing as she rested dead weight against the ground. Her instructors would kill her for not easing her way out of a run rather than coming to a dead stop, and she was sure that she'd get cramps from this, but she couldn't find the strength to get up to walk around. Well, they were going to kill her assuming that she made it out of here in the first place... "He took my phone too..." she grouched. While not as dependant on the item as some people (read: The Pokemon GOers and similar individuals) it would definitely come in handy now, assuming that the guy had not somehow busted the signal in the whole area, which... she was scarily afraid that he might have found a way to do among all the craziness involved, which made the fact that the most mundane thing to happen to her involving him being a kidnapping all the more laughable. Except that she didn't want to laugh, she wanted to cry or at the very least vent to one of her friends or her mother or anyone, really.

And yet again, her thoughts drifted back to the book at her hip. This time without hesitation, she opened it and stared at the nonsensical glyphs in front of her. And... didn't do much beyond that. The rush settled in a sort of heightened state, where her heart was beating loud in her ears, but she didn't know what to make of it. Something was clearly missing, but she couldn't figure out what. Well, for all of 26 seconds. She didn't know how or why, but a... person... No, she would be hard-pressed to call the shambling humanoid a person. She didn't know how or why, but a _zombie_, better, came groaning towards her. She was pissed. First the kidnapping, then a raging fire going through the forest, being left without any of her belongings, this odd book, and now THIS? She didn't curse often. So she kind of surprised when, hand outstretched, she shouted "FUCK YOU!" and an orb of black... goo? came flying out of her hand, landing against the zombie and... sort of singing its arm, she was surprised, yeah.

She blinked. All the rage that she felt was gone, leaving her oddly empty as she stared at the zombie in front of her, the dots connecting. Marko. The weapons. Lucina's figurine. The fire. The zombie. "This is Fire Emblem..." she breathed out, and then she fell onto her butt, letting out an 'eep' in fear as the zombie was swiping at her face in the time she took to think. "And this is... Flux!" she shouted, hand outstretched, anything to try and protect herself from the horror looming above her. She called to the darkness, and the darkness answered. A globe of Black shot from her hand, this time much more focused than the first one, and the same emptiness filled her as she watched it fly true, slamming into the zombie and piercing its heart. However, from the emptiness that chased away the fear, a new sensation rose, something more akin to... Astrid wouldn't call herself a "good" girl, despite a lot of her friends calling her one. She came from a well off family, kept away from alcohol and smoke, studied hard to provide a future for herself, sure, but it wasn't to say that she had never felt high. This was the high of her life though. She felt better, stronger, like she could do anything. It didn't surge from the book, no, it came from what she had just accomplished. And, perhaps more importantly than the source, was the fact that she wanted _more_. And she felt disgusted with herself for feeling like that. But even as bile welled up in her throat at the thought of tearing to pieces for her own enjoyment something that used to be human, she "pulled" from the tome once more, and the disgust she was feeling receded like twice before already.

Eyes wide, and a grin perhaps even wider, she went to look for the next Risen to find. The world did not disappoint, a shambling spearman came into view from the trees, probably drawn from the sounds of her previous "fight" with the other one. Licking her lips, she repeated what she had said before, the first time of many that night. "**Flux.**"


	4. Chapter 4

**Afloat - Chapter 4 **

**Walking, talking and a bit more, I guess**

I woke up in a daze as I stared at the branches of the lush nature around me, the sun rising, and a few birds chirping. What the hell kind of crazy dream was that? Fire emblem and… guilt? I… think? That was whack.

_Wait, branches?_

Lush nature?! Since when do I sleep outside?

…

And that's when it all rushed back to me. Failing at suicide, twice, somehow Fire Emblem happening, passing out…

_Chrom's foot getting cut off…_

And now I just felt empty, after yesterday. No sadness, no desire to off myself. No happiness, no anger, nothing. Just… I was back to my usual self. I had cried all my emotions away, I think, leaving me painfully neutral. I wish I could say this was not the usual for me, but lunacy does this to people.

Heh. Lunacy. No, I don't think I would have survived anything other than easy mode.

"What the hell is _aaaaaaaahhh…_" I groaned as I tried to get up and my entire body protested. "Sore…" I moaned in pain.

Still, despite the ARGH that was coursing through my entire body right now as my spine threatened to snap itself if I didn't stop moving, I looked around myself.

A hour at best had passed since I had passed out, unfortunately. I would've preferred more, but what I want doesn't matter now. Or ever.

I was propped against the wall of a fort that had most certainly seen better days, thankfully a part that had no moss on it. I didn't want to know what fantasy moss could do to a person.

My injuries were again, healed, though the scar tissue felt a little stiff under the touch.

Alright, quick thinking and backstory time! Assume the worst. They most likely wanted to ask questions, which I avoided simply by virtue of being uncoscious, there's a nonexistant chance that they don't still want to do so, they probably discussed things with Chrom and now are left with even more questions, I can provide answers to them I think.

What have I told Chrom anyways?

Depending on whether Chrom talked, which again I have to assume else I'm left without a cover story…

First, my name is Nick. Not much protest there, I don't want to suddenly change name. Technically Nicholas Lorenzo Marley, but I'm kind of affectionate to the former, and it's quick and easy to write when you're the protagonist and have to repeat it a lot.

Wait, what?

Second of all, I decided to be a coward and take the easy way out, and utterly failed. I… can probably spin a tale that makes it make sense? Or at the very least, it doesn't put me into a situation where I look like I'm in need of mental aid. Medieval times didn't deal well with loons. I think. Madhouses were a thing in medieval times, right?

Third… I came from a portal, at least that's what I told them, and already told Chrom to stay away from the portals.

…which he didn't do, if the latest wound he's sporting is anything to go by.

Goddamnit, I should've been more clear about the danger. But that also means, at least to them, that I was already aware of the danger the Risen represented, which isn't something known in Ylisse. Yet.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I needed to put the think thing in my think tank in motion and become a think tinkerer- FOCUS!

What was the logical conclusion about this, one that could effectively be proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, aside from telling them the truth? Because I did _**not **_feel guilty about not wanting to shatter their entire worldview only because I got lazy with my cover story. White lies. One more lie was not going to get me to hell. I was already there.

Let's see… Lucina, knowledge on the Risen, the portals… can I tell them I'm a victim of the grimleal…?

But no, that would open a whole another can of worms and it wouldn't fit with the portals. Or 'Marth'. What else is there?

_The truth. _Some part of my brain commented in a snotty know-it-all voice.

Ok, maybe I felt _a little _guilty. Screw you. You'd be guilty too after causing a swell guy such as Chrom to get his leg busted.

So what can I tell them? Lucina, Risen, Grimleal, Portals…

I can be one of the future children… no, that doesn't sound right. I really don't want to have someone, or myself for that matter, go through the emotional burden, and I already have a dad/mom combo, thank you very much. But still, the idea holds merit. Not the child part, the future.

Can I play the part of a future witness? It doesn't sound that hard. I need to get in contact with Lucina as soon as possible though, and inform her of my messing around with the events already. I'll probably get berated for being a fucking idiot too, but…

No. Nevermind. Assuming that there is a future me somehow, if he has already changed things my knowledge is moot. I'd be taken as a fraud, something I would be in that hypothetical scenario. But I'm throwing Marth under the bus if I don't explain anything about the Risen…

"Oh my god…" I buried my face in my hands. This fucking situation…

"Something amiss?" I jumped at the voice I heard. Daraen was entering through the fort entrance.

"Gah!" I shouted, making him wince. "Don't- I-" a frustrated noise bubbled in my throat.

The tactician simply raised an eyebrow at my reaction. "Do you wish to join us for breakfast?" he simply asked. My stomach decided that moment to remind me, loudly, that I was hungry.

"I'm coming, just a moment." I made a show of rolling my shoulders, noticing that I was being held closed by bandages running diagonally down my chest that presumably stopped my guts from spilling out on the floor.

Seemingly satisfied, the black haired man which conflicted with the typical standard build, and he was way taller than I expected. He may also have had a different facial disposition but I honestly wasn't sure left me to my devices. I allowed my back to hit the wall again, head in between my hands.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

This is Fire Emblem Awakening. And it's not a dream, either. Maybe it's just innate wishful (harmful) thinking, but I know for a fact that dreams are nowhere near this articulate and coherent. And even if I can't remember it, I've just had a dream. Unless it was inception, but it wasn't. I hope.

Letting my legs carry me, I walked around, inspecting my surroundings. We were basically still standing in the battlefield of Unwelcome Change and, somewhat more importantly, a fuck you huge fissure filled with lava was still surrounding us. Sort of. Not really, we could still move freely towards... uhh… east, apparently, if this was morning. I briefly stared into the pit, contemplating whether I should attempt my best Anakin impression in a river of molten rock. Wait, I'm the one with the high ground here.

And that's just slightly hot rock by now. The lava has solidified. Bummer.

Shaking my head from those thoughts, I walked back to where the others were, and sat down for breakfast cross legged. We were around the remains of a campfire, still surrounded by forest on all sides. That I could see, only Sully was missing. Chrom was still as legless as ever (why is that the only thing I can focus on?), sitting on the ground and bracing himself against Falchion looking pained, Daraen had a thoughtful frown on his face, Lissa's eyes were puffy and red with tears and Frederick was stone-faced as ever. Virion had a _slight frown_ (like, on the smile scale where 100% is full on grin and 0% is the deepest of frowns this guy had a 45%) on his face, polishing his metallic bow with a handkerchief.

Wordlessly, I was handed by Frederick a stew in a wooden bowl with an equally wooden spoon and a wooden stew- no, it was just shit but not made with actual chunks of wood. Whatever spices they used helped a little.

"Are you alright? Any pain left anywhere?" I turned my head to stare at Lissa who was clutching a heal staff in a white knuckled grip, eyes darting between me and her brother.

A wave of guilt hit me as I stared at the blonde girl. This was my fault. "Not really." I lied, easily. "Just sore from yesterday. You've already done a lot for me." I tried to smile, and at the very least her expression brightened by a little as she returned to fidgeting with her staff in hand. Like, a little little. Might have imagined it, to be honest.

Still, eating in peace was not to be found as I found several sets of eyes on me. I think the only ones who weren't staring at me were Lissa, who was worrying over her brother, and Chrom's, who were just staring unfocused.

…man, he looked like shit.

"…you have questions about the portal, I assume?" I asked quietly. I was not in the mood for being grilled by the cast of a fictional universe, but apparently, said fictional universe was in the mood to screw me over.

"A few." Daraen confirmed, tone grave. "First things first, I personally would like know anything you know about the undead that we have met."

I mulled it over. What DID I want to tell them?

Oh, wait. I got something. It'll at least serve to make me giggle anytime it's brought up. Until, you know, it becomes a serious issue and then it won't. But the name was stupid anyways.

"We call them the Fallen, for… obvious reasons." For some reason, Daraen looked like he had just bitten into a lemon. Huh. "As you might have noticed, they don't fight like regular people. They mostly tend to act on instinct, although they only seem to care about killing things, although some seem to display a sliver of emotion." I wracked my brain for what I could remember about them. "They're obviously capable of using weapons to some degree, though their skill seem to come from the original body-"

"Body?" Frederick asked, interrupting me.

"…what did you assume they were? They're people who have died and are being animated by" _Grima_ "something." I said, almost tripping up on what I was saying. Did these people have no concept of zombies?

"I see." Daraen muttered. "The situation is worse than I thought then. If these monsters are rampaging across the entirety of Ylisse, any fatality would mean these monsters' ranks getting bolstered…" I saw Frederick's and Virion's expression turn to horror as they realized what the tactician was implying.

I kind of didn't care at all.

And I still wondered why they weren't saying anything about Daraen's cloak. Now, that was one thing that I actually was curious about. How did they did not recognize the symbol themselves, or even Emmeryn. Didn't their father go on a holy crusade against them or something?

…whatever, not my problem.

"…may I ask a question of my own, Chrom, now that I think of it?" I asked to the bluenette, whose eyes snapped back into focus as he began listening. "…how are you even alive?"

A long silence settled. Go me. Eventually, however, as Chrom was about to answer, Frederick spoke up. "We must thank Falchion for it, I suppose. When milord was trapped under that boulder, it began to glow." He looked at the sword with something akin to…. Respect? "And by doing so, it allowed me and the others to arrive when we did, which was sadly still not enough." I winced in sympathy. "And a mysterious swordsman, Marth he called himself" I held in the wince this time despite really wanting to do so, "covered for our retreat while Milady tended to Milord's leg."

Virion decided to keep up question flow.

"Not to be rude, but I would like to redirect that same question to you." he asked, making me look at him in bemusement. "To clarify. Not to be rude, but you clearly don't have any of the makings of a warrior" not to be rude my ass "so there must be something else that you must've done to survive."

"…nothing that comes immediately to the mind. Running, trying to remain unseen as much as possible, and lots of just waiting around for the hordes to pass by." I shrugged. By now I was really stretching it, but I didn't know what to say that wouldn't sound suspicious. "They only seemed interested in attacking people and animals, and so locking up at home and just not coming out seemed to do the trick." I sighed. "Until I found myself here, anyways."

"About that." Daraen asked. "You come from one of the Outrealms, correct?" he asked.

"That's… Oddly knowledgeable for an amnesiac." I blurted out without thinking.

"Amnesia?" he asked. "I don't have amnesia."

…

_**He what.**_

Calm down. "I… oh." I said to defuse the situation. "I was sure I had heard something along those lines while I was…" I pointed to my general chest area. "Huh. Nevermind then." I said, pulling my knees closer to me.

I feel like referencing this stuff to kill a conversation is becoming my shtick.

And that's sad.

* * *

After a meal spent with inane questions that came mostly from me just to get my knowledge of Ylisse on point, and a bunch of questions from them about the Risen... I mean, the Fallen, I finally managed to get myself off the hook, for now. If I proved to be a charlatan, "all the better", and if instead what I said proved to be truthful, well…

"_We will cross that bridge when we get there." Chrom grunted in pain as he grit his teeth hopping aboard Frederick's horse with the help of the guy, who looked like he would carry the prince bridal style if he'd just asked, and didn't know what to do for him._

Frankly, I don't think I'm _that _good of a liar to have them 100% believe what I said and take it for granted. I'm an okay liar. I can string a reasonable line of events that without proof which they have no way of acquiring… at least until we meet Marth, that is, they cannot really say Aye or Nay to my story of being from another world. So I'm just… here. I'll walk to whatever village with these guys and jump ship before there's even a remote chance of meeting the Future Witness once again, because I _really _don't want to meet her against after the last time.

Actually, on the topic of the forest. It was burned down, for the most part and including the small camp that had been made, but it eventually stopped. A huge chunk of it of it, although I've just realized just how big it is if the massive area was just a dent in it, is now charcoal like its namesake, and most likely whatever random village survived off of it is gonna have huge troubles but… what can you do? To our knowledge, it just spontaneously combusted. We actually never got to know why, exactly, did it catch fire besides RAINING FLAMING BOULDERS FROM THE SKY and lava spurting from the ground. I assume they're more worried about raining boulders though.

Forest aside, I'll be sticking with them a little bit and then… part ways, I guess. I have preciously little idea what a kid on the streets can do, but I've got way too much to think about right now to care about that.

I've got… I've got to re-brush up and think about my Awakening knowledge. I've obviously already fucked things up, but somehow Chrom looked… calm-ish, despite the pain. Either he's just glad to be alive, or...

Right. He doesn't know anything of what's coming.

He might also be in too much pain to think of anything, which would be bad.

I had not yet re-acquired Tiffany much to my unvoiced chagrin. According to everyone else, I was "More of a danger to myself with it than to any who might be trying to hurt me." Well, screw you too!

To give you the short version of what happened, after some discussing we, or they. I didn't really have anything to say in it just decided to set off towards Ylisstol, which is, as I've found out, where Sully has gone to check on the situation and then report back. We're taking a side road where we're less likely to be spotted, and also so that we can pass by the aforementioned 'random' village to get supplies, since the mouths they had to feed just doubled and we're taking a slower pace, and to get Chrom some help because he _really _needs it. He looks in worse pain than I did when my crutch gave way and I fell on the foot that I'd just had a surgery on.

Which he might very well be. He probably is. Definitely.

And so he's on a horse, as the man your man could smell like.

_Insert horrible old spice commercial joke._

And now we're walking. No one really has anything to say, at least not to me. Daraen and Virion in the point have somehow struck a conversation about politics in the rear that I couldn't care to follow, the former seemingly not bothered by the fact that Frederick's eyes were piercing holes into both his and my back.

Chrom was looking pensively ahead, teeth grit and far too close to me for comfort since I was literally hanging by his horse to avoid passing out. Blood loss is a real pickle.

Despite not marching, holding a formation was still necessary according to both Frederick and Daraen, which were somehow becoming… while not buddies, the two basically agreed on everything, even on the fact that Daraen himself could be a shady man for all they knew. The other two newcomers of the group had hit it off right away with each other and weren't awkwardly sticking to themselves like I was. Kinda envied them, as I envied Daraen's ability to somehow be friends with everyone. Maxed out CHA, folks.

Daraen and Virion are the newcomers I assume, or you meant Sully and Virion or some other mix of the three.

Yup.

I didn't really feel like talking to anyone anyways, social awkwardness mixed with confusion about my entire situation acting up at a time like this.

My situation, by all means, didn't make sense. One just doesn't wake up one day in a completely different world from the one they once knew without a reason.

And yet here I am.

Considering my track record, if it's like KonoSuba and I was sent to fill out some "quest" or something like that they were in for a surprise. Or maybe I was sent to mess everything up with my natural ability to do so and in that case wow am I doing a good job at it.

But no more.

I'll get out of the way, I'll do my duty as an NPC, sit in the background, possibly get killed once the universe gets sick of my shit, or I could even get sick of my own shit and actually do the deed… yeah. Sounds just fine.

* * *

Another four hours' worth of treading through the forest that brought us… deeper into the forest. Hooray. During which I did my best to avoid getting bitten by any kind of mosquito that could carry medieval diseases. I very much did not want my adventure to end due to getting bitten by mosquitos. Didn't talk a whole lot unless spoken to. We were getting closer though, only two hours left.

I've been doing a lot of staring at Daraen too. At least during like, the first 2 hours. Wanted to know if his Mary- no, I guess it's Gary Stu? Gary Stu-ness would shine through already. So far nothing, besides him being grumpy about us traveling at a snail's pace between the fact that we haven't slept an entire night and the fact that jostling Chrom's wounds was a really bad idea, and managing to ignore a disgruntled teenager glaring at him while he tells a step by step guide to said disgruntled teenager on how to mount a tent for later.

Which is kind of unfair, because I still sleep under the stars. But I wanted to make myself useful, and this is honestly the only way I know how.

And also I didn't want to sleep in a tent with him after accidentally calling him Robin, which ended up in him freezing up and just not talking to me again.

I also had to eat _bread _of all things, which resulted in… nothing so far, oddly enough. Finding gluten-free stuff will be hard.

I was out of my dazed state from earlier since I think I completely bypassed the state where my body is sleepy and now it just accepted that I wasn't going to no matter how hard it called, but I still didn't know what to do. Besides, you know. Not sleeping. It was hardly the time now anyways, the sun beating down on the branches with a few rays making their way through. We were very near, and the others had found a stream to refill water at. Frederick's face when he realized that he had to leave Chrom had been completely hilarious.

I just stared at the nature around, hugging my knees to my chest, back pressed against a log that had fallen down and we had rolled under the sun's rays to act as a sort of bench, the warmth being far from the only thing that was washing over me.

I sighed. "I miss google."

Over the course of the day, I could feel my hand twitching towards my left thigh and looking for a phone and a set of keys that I knew weren't there. Still, force of habit. It is, however, something that the man the myth the legend Frederick, carrier of Lunatic runs, felt the need to notice. It didn't earn me any browny points, but it did earn me even more suspicion.

Lissa, the ever present ray of sunshine (Yellow, bright, annoying and impossible not to notice) suddenly poked my cheek, startling me. "What's a _google?_" she asked, apparently trying (and failing) to repeat the foreign word while also giving me a heart attack for the second time in like, half a day.

….

"At least this time you didn't have a campfire to jump into." She giggled, though she looked as much weary as I felt.

"Goggles. _My goggles_. Glasses." He said. "Sorry, it's my accent playing up." I replied sheepishly, scratching the back of my head.

She pouted, glaring at me a little. "That's a lousy lie if I've ever heard one. They don't even sound similar!" Ow, my ego as a liar is forever shattered.

_Baa-baa-black sheep, have you any soul?  
No sir, by the way, what the hell are morals_

I sighed. "How do I explain it…" I muttered to myself. "Basically, Google is… it's like a library in my world, but on a completely different scale than any other library. It spans the entire world, or most of it anyways, and inside it there's every information you could be possibly be looking for. People everyday submit any sort of information in it, important or inane, for the sake of both themselves and everyone else." I finished my honestly less than impressive recount of what the internet was. "Well, before the whole thing with the undead roaming the world happened." I added quickly, trying to avoid being inconsistent in my story. She still seemed interested in what I had said though.

"Wow… before these guys attacked, your world sounded like an amazing place." She said dreamily. I… I suppose… I certainly didn't have to fight for my life in my world, and all the commodities there were… "Especially with heroes like Marth and Caeda in it! So mysterious… Did you know them before you arrived three here?" I froze. Did I hear that right?

"Caeda?" I asked for clarification.

"Yeah! She swooped in and killed the fallen who was about to get my brother when he…" her excitement melted, becoming just ugly sadness.

"I have met Marth yesterday, but no, I have no idea who they are." I told her as sincerely as I could muster. It was only a half-lie anyways, I genuinely didn't know who Lucina was. Never met her, besides yesterday. "But this Caeda? Who is she?"

"Ha." Lissa giggled half-heartedly at my expense. "I actually only barely caught sight of her, and Daraen and Frederick didn't see her at all. She swooped in and dropped Marth off as he heroically cut down one of the… how did you call them? The Fallen?"

"Yes. But then… how did you know her name was Caeda?" I asked.

"I didn't." She shrugged. "But the blue hair and being with the masked man that calls himself Marth… it makes sense, no?" she said.

"I guess." I said. That looks like some Cynthia business right there.

I mentally facepalmed a moment later because I had answered the right thing only on accident, and really risked outing myself with talking about Marth, as he's a historical figure too.

I hope Lucina will be fine despite what happened to her father, she-

"You should try to get some sleep, princess." I sighed at her, wanting to cut things short to avoid risking even more. "Why are you not in your tent, anyways?"For some reason, however, she seemed to take offense to that and her eyes narrowed down at me.

"I never told you I was a princess, Mr. Otherworlder." She said, looking suspicious at me.

I looked to the side for a second, but the world, traitor it was, didn't spawn any convenient way to get out of this. Only trees.

"Uuuuhm… how about we make a trade?" I suggested, not really seeing a way out of this. "One answer for another?" I asked.

Her gaze lost a bit of fire, but she still looked mad-ish. She crossed her arms petulantly. "I couldn't sleep." She muttered.

I… am probably not buying myself any points with this, besides distracting her from what happened. Still… "That's fine and all Princess, but I never agreed that that was the question I wanted to ask." I replied, amused.

The blonde in front of me looked comically affronted at what I just suggested. "But-but you-Just now!" Her cheeks even puffed up. She looked adorable like this and _get your mind out of the gutter Nick wow you barely know her-_

Thankful for the darkness hiding my blush, I coughed into my fist. "I suppose I'll ask my question first, eh?" …well, shoot, I was just trying to buy myself time, but now I have to ask her something I suppose. What can I even ask her? Uhh-

_Fwap. _That was the sound of my mental fingers snapping, by the way.

I had almost forgot. "Tell me about this Caeda character, maybe?" I asked her.

She looked at me suspiciously for a second, probably trying to see if I had any ulterior motives, before opening her mouth-

"!" a very faint groan cut its way through the foliage to both of our ears. Lissa blinked. I blinked.

"Did you hear that?" Lissa whispered, her head turning towards the source of the sound. I… am not sure if she already forgot that she was telling a story or she was abusing this moment to try and make _me _forget because… shit, I was probably being a douche in my needing to know_ just what happened_, that I was making her relive it. Or half and a half of both reasons, anyways. The point is, the subject changed. And to be fair, I kind of welcomed it. That meant that I… maybe? Didn't have to explain myself.

Remembering that I actually needed to answer, I gave a brief nod after about two seconds of waiting. "Yeah, I did." I whispered back, trying to see what it was… more Risen- I mean, Fallen? Do they just… pop up all over the place?

Lissa's face suddenly turned to… not scared as I would've imagined. "Let's check it out!" she whisper-shouted.

_Wait what_

At my expression of disbelief, she went on to explain herself. "Well, the last few times I heard groaning I went to check it out and I found Daraen and you! What if it's someone else that needs help?" She asked.

I deadpanned at her. "The R-Fallen also groan." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but this was like, a female groan!" I stared blankly at her. Did… that sound feminine? I don't think so? "Trust me!" she tried to pull me to my feet.

"Fine." I grunted, surprised that the others hadn't woken up by now. "But at least-" I walked over to Chrom's spot on the ground against a tree. Who in their right mind sleeps upright? And grabbed the rapier that was close to him. While I was emotionally attached, I was not delusional enough to consider Tiffany a better weapon, and Falchion was A at his side, and B I was by no means a bluenette. Hence, rapier. Not a reaction from the bluenette, sleeping through the small amount of noise I was making.

Also, when I usually think rapier, I can't help but think the glorified plastic sticks that are used for fencing. But this was basically a regular sword, only more pointy and less slashy.

"Let's go." I whispered. For once, I really hoped for me to be wrong and for someone else to be right. I really didn't know why we weren't bringing anyone else, seeing as I was unarmored and wielding a weapon I've never tried before. Then again, I really didn't want to wake up anyone and tell them I got scared from hearing a sound in the woods.

I lowered the rapier after that though, as it had became clear that this was very much a person and not an abomination. Her voice didn't "glitch out" (It's the only way I know to describe how Fallen sound, to be honest. You know what I'm talking about) for all the two minutes that we spent looking for her, only got progressively louder.

"Where the hell is this woman…?" I asked. Sadly, the forest wasn't exactly the best place to look for a disembodied (until proven otherwise) voice, and, despite the fact that the fire had burned half the damn place down, animals still managed to be annoying noisemakers. Freaking crickets.

You know, one of the more useful and most cliché powers in any anime was the classic "heightened awareness" where characters had, quite literally, a sixth sense to gather information from to avoid arrows, blows and whatnot.

Well, it would've been useful right now. Because I only noticed thanks to a scream from Lissa that she had been hit by a… black gunk that was rapidly eating through her cage gown thing. Crinoline.

Turning rapidly to face our assailant, I stared as a brown-haired woman in blue jeans and a shirt with a purple book in hand stared at us with an expression that made my blood freeze. Dilated pupils, blue eyes trained onto Lissa, cruel and far too wide smirk. It was the expression of someone that wanted to kill you, and who was going to enjoy it.

It lasted only a second though.

"Sorry!" the woman said, the bloodlust in the air dropping and replaced by a mildly concerned look. "You aren't zombies…?" she said. Lissa had moved to behind me to cover from further attacks, and I still didn't know what to do. What the hell was going on…?

The woman kept looking at us, and opened her mouth to speak before we heard a loud crack from her as she tumbled forward, passed out onto the ground. Behind her was Frederick, lance used more like a quarterstaff (with the pointy end not towards the woman) who had knocked her out like a light.

"Milady, are you alright?!" Frederick came running forward. I turned to see Lissa nodding shakily, before saying. "I… think she mistaked us for someone else?" she said, tilting her head to watch the woman. "After attacking, she seemed confused, and said… I think she called us Zom bees?" Lissa said. My eyes were drawn to the fact that she was without the cloth part of her skirt, the crinoline doing nothing to hide her leggings-

Looking for something to distract myself, I clarified. "Zombies. It's a generic way to call the undead."

"Regardless, this woman nearly killed you." Frederick reminded. "If she really is no foe, then she'll have time to make amends when she wakes up. But for now, you should already be resting, Cinder village is still two hours from here." He scolded us. "And Nick" he said. "While I agree that erring on the side of caution is best, do not take again Milord's weapons." He said, grabbing with a gauntleted hand the rapier by the blade and out of my hands.

…huh. And that was that.

As we walked back to the camp, which was awfully close for how much we had walked in circles to look for the dark mage woman, Frederick spoke up again. "I will say that I hadn't been expecting this at all, to be honest. This was, at least to some degree, a pleasant surprise." Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Lissa retreating back to her tent looking beet red. She had finally noticed the state of her clothes, huh.

And oh god, Frederick was smiling. Why was he smiling?

"How can you call this, in any way, shape or form, pleasant?" I asked back. I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but that was that.

"Well, I was able to confirm that at least you aren't a fool, though I don't know if you're a spy yet. Playing your hand in such an obvious way would've most likely ended you up on the tip of my lance, yet you opted to protect the Princess for the time being, however poor of a job you may have done." he analyzed, making me gulp. "R-right." I said, and the conversation was apparently over.

And with nothing left to do, I went to go do what I do best usually. Dig myself into a deeper hole, and bothering people. In this particular case, the woman who nailed Lissa with a Flux shot. Very dangerous, but also very interesting.

And plus, it was only fair for me to go and annoy her for what she did, right?


End file.
